Paving material reported to reduce dust and road maintenance costs

Published 6:02 am, Friday, February 14, 2014

By Paul Wiseman

Special to the Oil Report

West Texas may be known for its prodigious dust storms, but some of that dust can be prevented, said one company that aims to do something about it.

Pennz Suppress is a petroleum-based paving product and procedure that its proponents said costs much less, particularly in maintenance dollars, than caliche or gravel roads, with savings of 50-80 percent.

Pennz Supress is not new, said Mack Hickman, president of Pennz Road Technologies, which is bringing the product to the Permian Basin. "Actually, Pennz Suppress has been around about 30 years. Pennzoil/Quaker State are the inventors of it, and the patent holders of it," he said.

The product was created mainly to hold down road dust in Pennsylvania coal mines. "It's made from a very unique crude oil, a Pennz grade oil, that has no asphaltines in it," Hickman said.

When applied to a road surface, Pennz Suppress is combined with water and a surfactant that helps it penetrate the soil, forming a tight bond with the dirt. This keeps it from washing out or easily eroding.

"One molecule of water will carry three molecules of product -- it's a resin -- into the ground," he explained. "Then when the water evaporates the resin starts to bind the fine materials together."

Most oilfield roads today are simply graded, watered and covered with a crushed aggregate, which creates plumes of dust when trucks and other equipment roll over it. This aggregate must be replaced regularly, especially when a hard rain washes some of it out. "You also have potholes, washboarding, erosion, and carrying mud and dirt onto paved roads," with crushed aggregate, he said. This and the rooster tail of dust-created hazardous driving conditions when a driver can't see through the dust.

By bonding with the dust particles, Pennz Supress keeps them from flying every time a vehicle passes by. There are two main ways to apply the product.

On an existing road the product is applied as a soil stabilizer. The application team first loosens the dirt on the surface of the road about three inches down, then the product is applied into the loose soil, which is then graded and rolled out by a roller. "When you do that, you've got a road that will last several years on its own."

The second way involves applying it topically to around three quarters of an inch. "The topical application we have certified by the California Air and Water Control Board at 7,000 passes without any degradation," said Hickman.

After those 7,000 passes a small dust tail begins to rise, but only about a foot off the ground, because the dust molecules are still bound to the road material. At that point Hickman recommends doing a light re-application of Pennz Suppress.

He noted that the dust is not from the Pennz Suppress itself, but rather from the crushed aggregate below it. With each treatment there is less crushed aggregate that is untreated until, eventually, any added treatments are few and far between.

As an example of the potential cost savings, Hickman told of a proposal he made to the city of Tilden, just northwest of Corpus Christi. This product is being pitched to cities and counties as well as to oil companies.

Tilden has a road that is 19 miles long, with 1,500-2,000 vehicle trips taken on it each day. The city is spending $2 million per year in maintenance under standard paving procedures. Hickman estimated that Pennz Suppress would cost $400,000 to put down initially, with maintenance costs of $350,000 for the rest of the first year. The second year, estimated maintenance drops to around $200,000.

Hickman's company began marketing Pennz Suppress in Texas in late fall, and has seen some keen interest in the product. But the extremely cold weather has played havoc with plans to lay some test sections on roads, so sales in this area are small so far. Areas near Brady and Mason, where there are frac sand plants, have also shown interest. He said the temperature must be in the mid-40s and rising for Pennz Suppress to be successfully applied.

It has, however, been extensively tested in California and found to be durable. Also, due to the lack of asphaltines in the Pennsylvania grade oil from which it is made, Pennz Suppress has been found to be non-toxic to workers and to water tables, Hickman stated.

Whenever the weather warms up, business for this company might also heat up.